


he didn't tell you, did he?

by kennysspace



Series: almost paradise - part two [15]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:21:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23473147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kennysspace/pseuds/kennysspace
Summary: almost paradise: part two - chapter fifteen of fifteenneedless to say, things have been awkward since that night - the night where you and steve kissed.
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Henderson Reader, Steve Harrington/Reader, Steve Harrington/You
Series: almost paradise - part two [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571503
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	he didn't tell you, did he?

this is also being updated to my tumblr. you can find it [here](https://harringtonbuckley.tumblr.com).

almost paradise: part three, coming soon!

* * *

“Which one?” Dustin asks as he turns to you, “Blue or white?” 

Your gaze moves to see him standing next to the artificial Christmas tree, holding two bunches of tinsel, one on each arm. Your expression pinches in disgust - he responds as if he read your mind, “Mom used all the red for the wreath.”

While Max hands you more popcorn to string onto the garland, Mike answers before you can, “Go with the white!”

Your mother’s off attending the Wheeler’s annual holiday party; this year, they decided to host it on Christmas Eve. She only goes to keep up appearances and stay in touch with everyone’s parents. You haven’t been to one of those in forever.

Instead, the kids have gathered at your place for some light hearted festivities. With Eleven’s return, you thought that it would be nice for everyone to celebrate together; Lucas and Will are helping her pick out ornaments, elbow deep in one of the cardboard boxes labelled with your messy handwriting from a few years back. 

You laugh lightly as Dustin pulls a face at Mike, who’s currently deciding between tree toppers, “I didn’t ask you!” 

At that moment, the doorbell rings - Will’s head pops up, “Seriously more carolers?” Passing the nearly completed strand to Max, you push yourself up off the cushions to answer it. 

“I was gonna say white anyways,” You add, a small smile tugs at your lips before disappearing through the dining room. 

Your whole body freezes when you swing open the door, and it’s not because of the cold; Steve’s there on the other side.

Neither of you have been able to stop thinking about that night. Seeing each other for the first time since then causes everything to flood back into your minds.

How it felt when your noses brushed, when your fingers ran through his hair, his palm sliding over your skin-

“ _Hey._ ”

Steve’s greeting snaps you from the memory. Thankfully, it seems he’s just as nervous as you are - you can hear it in his tone. 

He hadn’t expected the kiss you shared would have affected him the way that it did. Your presence is overwhelming to the point where he’s starting to regret coming here. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

Clearing your throat doesn’t help you sound anymore confident, your voice still trembles a touch.

“Uh, _hi._ ”

A few silent seconds pass while the both of you struggle to process before you finally speak up again, “What are you-”

“Oh, yeah!” Steve interrupts while he brings a hand up, anxiously rubbing the back of his neck, “I guess Dustin wanted me to stop by? He never really explained why…”

At the mention of your younger sibling, your gaze drifts out to the snow coated yard, head shaking in disbelief. Of course he invited Steve behind your back.

The smirk that grows over your face clues Steve in, “He didn’t tell you, did he?”

Sighing heavily, you lean your weight against the door, “What do you think, Harrington?”

The way you address him, in that teasing way that you do - it makes him think that maybe things really aren’t as different as he thought they’d be.

But he doesn’t get to respond; two thundering sets of footsteps come bounding around the corner. 

“Oh thank god,” Dustin sighs, catching his breath as he comes to your side, “You’re both here. We have an emergency, come on.”

Steve scoffs, “What, one of you morons knock over the tree?”

“Worse,” Lucas huffs, making one of your brows raise. Dustin grabs Steve’s sleeve and drags him in as the other boy continues, “Mike dumped the green icing all over the cookies.”

The boy in question’s shouts ring throughout the house, “IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!”

* * *

The group of you spend the next hour painstakingly scraping the brightly dyed mixture from the baked goods. The only reason Will and El don’t help is there weren’t enough butter knives. Max had started on a rather promising angel shaped one before the incident; Steve insists that it’ll still taste just as good. 

“It’s just sugar and butter!” He adds, “What’s not to like about that?”

Max shoots a sharp glare over to Mike, who cowers a bit in fear beside you. The girl sighs in defeat before getting up from her seat, “I mean I’ll still eat it.”

“Okay good, ‘cause I was gonna steal it if you weren’t,” Steve’s comment gets a tiny giggle from the red-head, “In your dreams.”

The interaction between them has the corner of your mouth curling upwards; you love seeing them accept him as a member of the group, even if the two of you have gone and made things awkward. 

There were a few times tonight where you’d refused to meet Steve’s gentle eyes from across the counter. And if you did, it reminded you too much of those excruciating moments - the moments right before you leaned in, when everything was still up in the air - and you would pull them away just as quickly as they’d met.

Pretending like nothing happened between the pair of you isn’t easy for you to hide.

When you move to the kitchen, Tupperware in hand filled to the brim with green stained cookies, Dustin decides to approach you about it.

“Did something happen?”

Your brother’s voice startles you, nearly dropping a container you hadn’t set onto the counter, “Jesus Christ - what the hell are you talking about?”

“You and Steve,” He prods further, gesturing with his head back towards the other room; Lucas and Will’s laughs bounce against the walls, “Did something happen?”

Your lips quickly contort into a frown at what he insinuates. You deny it, “No, of course not! I haven’t seen him all week!”

Dustin’s arms cross over his chest as you try to make yourself look busy, grabbing a tea towel from the drawer to wipe up invisible messes. His mind flashes back to when Steve was giving him a ride back from the dance, how it had appeared his whole demeanor changed in the two hours since Dustin had seen him last.

Not completely unlike how you are now.

Your brother decides not to make any more of a fuss about the ordeal; it’s really not his place. His attempt at playing matchmaker seems to have failed, and it sags his shoulders a touch. Dustin was really starting to think you two had a shot at being something more.

As if right on queue, Steve’s head pops into the kitchen, “I think I’m gonna head out, Hendersons. There’s only so much of those brats I can handle.”

You don’t want to see him go so soon. Truth be told, you still really enjoyed having him around, even if things were a bit off. You feel like you should apologize for that at least before he goes.

“Yeah of course,” You glance between the two of them as you make your way over to Steve, “I’ll walk you out.” 

Dustin shoots a knowing look in your direction before Steve pulls the boy’s cap down over his eyes, “We still up for sledding tomorrow?”

“You bet!” 

Steve turns to meet your baffled expression before the two of you start moving, head shaking in disbelief, “You two are unbelievable.”

The walk back to the door is filled with silence. You’re scrambling to find a way to explain your behavior, while Steve’s wondering if he should even ask. What if it didn’t mean the same thing to you? What if talking about it just makes it more awkward?

Maybe you both should just forget it ever happened. Maybe that would make it easier - if you just moved on. Something about that doesn’t sit right with him.

“It’s nice of you to have all of them over like this,” Steve motions back to the house when you shut the door behind you, feeling his heart skip a beat when your eyes catch his. Why can’t he just… _talk_ to you about it? 

You shiver a bit in the cold December air, “Figured they’d wanna do something for the holiday now that El’s back, you know?”

Folding your arms over your chest, your gaze darts away from Steve, hating the distance that’s crawled between you; it was just one kiss - right?

Steve only nods, not trusting his voice at the moment to say anything more. He’s afraid if he does, he’ll mention something about what happened, what you’re both so scared to speak of.

He wonders if maybe you regret it; maybe you think it was a mistake. A sharp inhale is pulled into his lungs at the thought - he’s gotta get out of here. 

“I’m sorry that I’ve been-”

“It’s fine-”

“So busy-”

Steve waves away your excuses when you try to apologize, eyes focusing on the ground as he feels the tension begin to grow, “Really, it’s okay. I-”

He pauses briefly, “I know it’s been tough with work, you know, not havin’ him there. Don’t worry about it, yeah?”

Your jaw clenches at the mention of Bob; you’ve barely talked to anyone about how his death has affected you. Truthfully, you’re not sure you’ve even processed it fully with everything else that’s raging on inside your mind.

You tighten the grip on your arms, twisting the fabric of your sweater between your fingers, “I just- I didn’t want you to think that I was ignoring you or anything. It’s okay if you did.”

He can’t lie - he feels a rush of relief at your words, even if it is at your expense. But Steve smiles instead, one that you return, opting to try and make you feel even a tad bit better, “Yeah, I kind of thought that.”

You can feel it too. The hesitation - it’s almost nauseating. You wonder if this is how it ends. Because there’s no denying that was a simple kiss - it was anything but; your friendship’s never going to be the same.

There was so much more, so much that wasn’t said, so much that you felt when his hands were cradling you close, so much that Steve wished he could’ve done sooner. Fear is consuming you; you can’t live like this anymore.

“Wait, Steve-” The tone of your voice keeps Steve from pulling his keys from his coat, mind drawn to what it is you want to say. But nothing else comes. Your mind is tediously trying to stitch together a narrative, trying to come up with how to phrase it.

But god, just _say something_.

When your eyes move to meet his once again, you can’t even stop yourself - your lips are pressed to his in an instant. 

It catches you both off guard; you, surprised by your own actions and Steve, understanding that his mind was twisting your nervous silence into something else.

“I want this,” You mutter after pulling away, misty breaths swirling together in the cold winter air. His eyes are gazing intently at your expression, pupils wide with adoration as you continue to speak, “I want you.”

A brief second passes as Steve thinks, wondering if maybe it’s too good to be true, maybe you don’t really mean it, maybe it’s just all a lie. But you’re not like Nancy, you’ve never been like her.

A brilliant smile beams from him at your admission, and he takes your face in his palms, cradling your head between his hands; he kisses you immediately. He doesn’t know what else to do. He doesn’t think there’s anything else he would.

Who knew so much could change in a year?

* * *

[check out part three!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26929711)


End file.
